Is there a user friendly application that will publish a large manual
with illustrations, forms and photos in an efficient HTML document? 
Teaching users to understand HTML is not an option.  The users should
be able to maintain and update the document as needed.  Currently, the
document is in both WordPerfect and Word.  Both will not adequately
format the document when converting to HTML without “expert”
intervention.  Publishing straight to one PDF document makes the
document much too large.

You can download StarOffice here, until midnight today:
http://wwws.sun.com/software/star/staroffice/5.2/get/get.html

Or get its brother application which will remain open after it goes
into full-fledged closed-source OpenOffice, here:
http://www.openoffice.org/dev_docs/source/1.0.0/index.html

Both run on multiple platforms and support a variety of document
formats, including Word and HTML, and the support for HTML is much
better than Word's built-in (I have never used WordPerfect for HTML
authoring.)

If you need more help, please post a clarification request. Thanks for
choosing Google! Answers.

---

Request for Answer Clarification by n2film-ga on 29 May 2002 06:43 PDT

Are you aware of any other software applications that could be used to
easily manage a large manual without knowing HTML?  Perhaps
DreamWeaver?

---

Clarification of Answer by bookface-ga on 29 May 2002 11:01 PDT

These programs allows WYSIWYG (What You See IS What You Get) editing
and creation without requiring knowledge of HTML [sorted by
usability]:

http://www.namo.com/products/webeditor/featuretour/ [download on the
right]

http://www.hotmetalpro.com/products/hm6_tour.htm [download trial here:
http://www.hotmetalpro.com//login.sq?actionID=23 ]

http://www.ixla.com/ [click Ixla Web Easy Express on the left; for
more info try reading "Killer Site Builder" above that link]

http://www.virtualmechanics.com/products/dwarf/download.html

Hope this helps. :)

While I am looking for a solution worth far more than $100, I offered
$5 and got a $5 dollar answer.  I'll try to think of a way to
construct a better question and offer more cash for a more
comprehensive answer.

It sounds as if you're working with PC users. Is that correct?

How much space does the original manual occupy on disk? In printed
pages?  Do you want the HTML generated to be all on one web page, or
to separate into separate pages?

What size was the PDF file created (the one that was too large)? What
would you consider a viable size?

Would your group be willing to chunk one large word processing file
into smaller files for easier maintenance?  If so, since you already
have Acrobat, using smaller files to generate PDFs might be a viable
solution:
* PDFs preserve formatting
* You already have the capability to generate PDFs
* PDF generation can be automatic
* Making an index page to link to a set of PDFs is a one-time
operation

Dreamweaver is a great program, but it's not suitable for people who
don't know HTML.

There IS a one-step software solution available for simple conversion
of Word documents in HTML format.

WordToWebTM2.5, from SolutionSoft, picks up where "Save As HTML"
leaves off--completely automating the entire publishing process. The
documents can be maintained in Word, and then converted as needed into
HTML.

"Here are a few tasks for which WordToWeb is especially well suited: 

-- Moving existing Word documents to the web. This is especially true
for longer documents such as manuals, technical specifications, etc.
You can also convert documents in other formats (such as RTF,
WordPerfect or any format which can be imported into Microsoft Word).

-- Developing new documents which will need to be maintained in both
printed and HTML format. Because WordToWeb fully automates the Word to
HTML conversion, you can use a Word document as a single source for
both mediums. The conversion process is fast and easy, so you can
painlessly update the online version of your publication any time the
Word source files change.

-- Enabling users without knowledge of HTML, or without the desire to
work with dedicated HTML editors, to easily produce sophisticated web
pages from their Word documents."

http://www.solutionsoft.com/w2wfaq.htm

WordToWeb isn't a substitute HTML editor, it's a conversion tool that
will allow documents to be maintained in Word format, then
"re-converted" each time an update to the web version is needed. A
trial version of WebToWord is available, as is online purchase and
download.

Hope this helps,

~larre

Yes, I am working with PC Users.  Currently, the IT Department must
make changes to various operational documentation with every update. 
The goal is to move that work to end users responsible for making
updates.  I found the comments by Larre, MVguy and Thisuser very
helpful.  We will try using WordToWebTM2.5 and link to forms "chunked"
into multiple PDF file.  Thanks again to the researchers who offered
their comments!!

I'm sorry to add such a nieve comment, but what is wrong with
Frontpage which is bundled with office?

What is also wrong with save to HTML in word, which also can open as
convert Word Perfect documents?

Frontpage has no learning curve. If you can use Word you can use
Frontpage.

Frontpage also has an auto publish wizard that can be setup...

Just a thought.